Elastic webbing



s. F. oNAN-r ELASTIC WEBBING Dec. 25, 1934.

Fired Jan. 27, 1934 Patented- Dec.` 1934 lUNI/TED STATES PATENT OFFICEUnited Elastic Corporation,

Easthampton,

Mala., a corporation of Massachusetts Application January 27, 1934,serial No. '108,623

s Claims. (ci. 139-422) This invention relates to elastic webbings. Itaims to devise aproduct of this character suitable for bindings, elasticinserts in garments,l and various other uses in which transverseelasticity is required instead of the usual longitudinal elasticity.

The nature of the inventionwill be readily understood from the followingdescription when lread in connection with the accompanying drawing, andthe novel features will be particularly pointed` out in the appendedclaims.

In the drawing,

Figure l is a plan view oi' a short length oi webbing embodying thisinvention, the upper portion of this length of webbing being shown in a`stretched condition; and

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the construction of a portionof the web shown in F18. 1.

The web shown is composed chiefly of thread or yarn made of any of thecommon textile ilbers, the size and character of such thread or yarndepending upon the nature and requirements of the goods. It includeswarp and illling threads and comprises a central, loosely woven section2 with much firmer selvage edged marginal portions 3-3 atopposite edgesof said central section.

Extending back and forth from one. edge to the other of the section 2 isa rubber thread or cord 4, the size o! which also will depend upon thenature of the goods and the uses to which it is to be put. Usually thisthread is composed of one or more strands 'of rubber with a yarn orthread cover wound around it, thewinding operation being performed whilethe rubber is elongated somewhat so that an initial tension ismaintained continuously on the rubber strand or strands. The greaterpart oi' the rubber in the 40 goods consists of the lengths which extendtransversely of the web, and which are put in under some tension duringthe weaving of the goods, the threads in the loosely woven section beingspaced apart during this operation so that when the waving operation hasbeen completed and the elastic thread 4 is allowed to contract, it willsubstantially reduce the overall width of the web. These nllingwiselengths are woven into the goods or are anchored in the weave atrelatively short intervals so that the weftwise contraction or the goodsresults in puckering or gathering the loose'- ly woven section 2. Y

'I'hese transverse lengths of rubber thread are connected at their endsby short lengths 5 of the same rubber thread 4, and each of these shortlengths is locked into the weave at very frequent intervals betweenadjacent weftwise lengths so that the presence of any loose loops isdenitely avoided. Usually these goods have no substantial degree oflongitudinal elasticity so thatthe short 5 sections 5 simply serve toconnect the transverse lengths of rubber thread but do not impartelasticity to the portions ci' the fabric in which they are located.

Such a fabric can be manufactured in several ways and in a wide varietyof looms. A convenient procedure, however, consists in making the web ina narrow-ware loom of the double shuttle type, one shuttle, say theupper one, carrying the rubber thread 4, while the lower one carries theilbrous illling. The warp threads W are arranged in two sheds with allof the warp threads in the margins 3-3 Working in the lower shed only,and the warp threads W in the section 2 normally working only in thisshed. Two special warps W'-W' work through both sheds. The shuttles areshot simultaneously in opposite directions through the sheds. With suchan arrangement a pick or rubber illling can be inserted at any desiredpoint, after which the loom makes several picks before another pick orrubber filling is put in. During these intermediate picks the uppershuttle simply reciprocates idly, but the rubber thread is intertwinedwith one or the special warps W', as illustrated in Fig. 2, and thus islocked securely into the weave at closely adjacent points.

Such a fabric finds a wide use as a binding material around the edges ofcushions, slip covers for upholstery, as an insertion in garments togive elasticity to certain portions of them, and for many otherpurposes.

While I have herein shown and described a preferred embodiment of myinvention ,and a typical method of manufacture, it will be understoodthat the goods may be made by other methods and that the invention maybe embodied in other forms without departing from the spirit or scopethereof. For example, elastic warps may be included with the brouswarps, 45 ii' desired. to give the fabric lengthwise, as well astransverse, elasticity.

Having thus described my invention, what I desire to claim as new is:

1. An elastic web comprising brous warp and lling threads interwovenwith each other to form a loosely Woven section of web, and a rubberthread secured in the weave of said section and having lengths extendinglling-wise of the goods, the ends of said lengths being connectedtogether by shorter lengths of the same rubber thread disposed warp-wiseand intertwined with a warp thread and thereby locked into the weave atintermediate points between said iilling-wise lengths, said rubberthread serving to impart lling-wise elasticity to the web.

2. An elastic web comprising ilbrous warp and lling threads interwovenwith each other to form a loosely woven central section with moreclosely woven selvage edged margins at opposite sides of said looselywoven section, and a rubber thread secured in the weave of said centralsection and having lengths extending filling-wise of the goods fromsubstantially one edge to the other of said central section, the ends ofsaid lengths being connected together by shorter sections oI the samerubber thread disposed warpwise of the goods, and certain of said warpthreads and said shorter sections of rubber thread being intertwinedwith each other at points between said illing-wise lengths to lock saidshort sections into the weave.

3. An elastic web comprising fibrous warp and lling threads interwovenwith each other to form a loosely woven central section with moreclosely woven selvage edged margins at opposite sides of said looselyWoven section, and a rubber thread secured in the weave of said centralsection and having lengths extending filling-wise of the goods, the endsof said lengths being connected together by shorter sections of the samerubber thread disposed warp-wise and located at approximately oppositeedges of said loosely woven central section, said short warpwisesections of rubber thread being intertwined with a warp thread andthereby locked into the weave at points between said iilling-wiselengths, and said rubber thread serving to impart filling-Wiseelasticity to the web but the web being relatively non-elastic in thedirection of its warp.

